Maria F. Deariso

Maria F. Deariso, 71, of Garner died of complications from pneumonia on Monday, August 10, 2015, at the WakeMed Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Melville and Frances Quirk, and in 2006 by her husband of 43 years, Edward Deariso. Maria began her career in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, then, while raising her two sons, went to Northern Virginia Community College earning a degree in nursing. She retired from nursing after serving in the intensive care unit and emergency department of hospitals in Arlington, Virginia and then, after relocating to North Carolina, at WakeMed.

Maria lived in the Philippines for two years while her husband served as the agricultural attaché with the American Embassy. She became an avid scuba diver and underwater photographer for many years and wrote magazine articles on medical topics related to diving. After retiring from her nursing career, Maria continued to serve as a volunteer care giver for friends and neighbors and devoted much of each day to caring for a disabled son.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday at Memorial Baptist Church in Buies Creek by the Rev. Ed Beddingfield. The family will receive friends from 10:00 to 11:00 at the church. A graveside service will be held at Hillcrest Cemetery in Sylvester, Georgia.

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Survivors include her son Devin Andrew Deariso and his wife Patricia of Garner, Joseph Edwin Deariso of Raleigh, a sister, Bernadette Hetrick, of Raleigh, a grandson, Zachary Devin Beuch, of Garner, her nephew, Paul Hetrick, and his wife, Erin, of Cary, and her nephew Mark Hetrick, and his wife, Erin, and their two children, Hannah and Nathan, of Zebulon.